After last year’s success, the Festival of the Moving Image (FoMI) returns with a thrilling new programme. FoMI will run for four days between February 27th and March 2nd. The theme for this year’s festival is “Truth and Lies.” This theme has been chosen due to recent issues surrounding government surveillance and secrecy, such as WikiLeaks, the Snowden files, and the Guantanamo Diary. FoMI hopes to bring this kind of debate and discussion to the films chosen for this year’s festival. To ignite debate a distinguished group of speakers and films have been assembled.

The Q&A with director Mike Leigh will be a definite highlight of the festival. The BAFTA and Palme d’Or award winning director of Mr. Turner and Vera Drake, will be answering the audience’s questions following the screening of his film Secrets & Lies. This, perhaps his most acclaimed and loved film, will show how the theme of the festival corresponds to personal and everyday issues in this portrait of a highly recognisable reality.

There will also be a Q&A with director Jaco Van Dormael following the screening of his critically-acclaimed debut Toto le Heros. His films are often defined by physiologically complex and imaginative stories, and should correspond directly the issues the festival hopes to raise.

Other speakers include; Paul Donovan, the CEO of ODEON, Alissa Phillips the producer of Moneyball and Dracula Untold, and Jan Harlan the executive producer for both Stanley Kubrick and Steven Spielberg.

The festival aptly opens with Laura Poitras’ extraordinary documentary Citizenfour, which centers around Edward Snowden and the NSA spying scandal. This acclaimed documentary recently won the Oscar for Best Documentary, as well as the Best Documentary Award at this year’s BAFTAs and will be followed by a discussion panel on the film.

The ethos of FoMI is to create an environment which fosters enjoyment and critical discussion around film. Festival-goers can expect a highly diverse and exciting line-up: from foreign language masterpieces, to indie shorts, to cult classics. Even those with the most eclectic tastes will find plenty of interest.

To buy tickets and day passes for the festival please click here. Please remember to read the terms and conditions for any purchased tickets.

(Disclaimer: The Festival program may change due to unforeseen events)